Vision

HHSN - Health, Humanism and Society Center in the Negev

Health and health care are not limited to one discipline. Despite the impressive progress in the field of bio-medicine, several other aspects require a broad approach that would combine bio-medicine with social science, and a humanistic approach based on the humanities. These aspects include the treatment of the individual, the organization of health services, the treatment and promotion of public health, coping with the needs of special groups, facing gaps in health status, in accessibility to health services and in the social determinants of health based on class, gender, ethnic and national differences.

The Center implements a comprehensive vision of health as a broad social and human phenomenon. The Center promotes an interdisciplinary approach that combines philosophical, sociological, anthropological, historical, cultural (literary, arts), with economic and political contexts and insights. In ethic terms, the center is founded on the basis of a humanistic approach that stems from a deep belief in the centrality of the right to health, and encourages new bio-ethic thinking.

There are centers in the world for medicine and humanities, as well as centers for social medicine. This center was founded on a broader concept in three aspects:

1) The emphasis on health and not just on medicine;

2) The combination of social sciences and humanities, as these research fields exist and proliferate at the same university;

3) The combination of global and local perspectives: The global perspective is being implemented in the efforts to establish a leading research center that engages in partnerships with other centers of medicine, humanities and social medicine around the globe; The local perspective means a deep commitment to improving the health services in the Negev for the local regional communities, i.e., the encouraging the efforts to drawing and keep health professionals in the region.

Goals:

1) Encouraging interdisciplinary research on health and illness while integrating knowledge, approaches and methods from other fields of life sciences, social sciences and humanities.

2) Postgraduate teaching in an interdisciplinary approach to health and health care.

3) Focusing on health-related activities involving various communities in the Negev region and civil society organizations, eventually attracting quality personnel in the health professions to the region.

4) Cooperation with similar centers abroad.